


tragedy of light

by helo572



Series: Tumblr Prompts [8]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Post-Mass Effect 3, Prompt Fill, Recovery, Shepard Survives, Slice of Life, Tumblr Prompt, sort of recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 02:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12997386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helo572/pseuds/helo572
Summary: #18. shakarian & “i wish i could stop loving you”(et al: the tragedy of light is that you can see.)





	tragedy of light

**Author's Note:**

> YA BOI BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE PROMPTS. this one is for the lovely seu and they prompted me #19 "i wish i could stop loving you" from [this ask meme](http://talizorahs.tumblr.com/post/161952211674/writing-prompts). thank u!!!

The days get easier the more the light returns to the Citadel, swept out of dark corners by masses of volunteers from species far and wide. It entices the breath out of Cirella’s throat and Garrus finds himself watching each passing morning, stretching onto the night, until his eyes flutter open once more and the first thing he always does is  _ smile _ . It’s wonderful in all senses of the word, watching Commander Shepard once again defy the odds, fighting back into the world of the living.

 

“Welcome back,” Garrus breathes, just short of cooing, seeing those green eyes follow even the smallest of his movements. He leans over, chest fluttering as Cirella intently watches him, so he satisfies them both and presses his head gently against Cirella’s own. “And I mean it, Ciri. I’ll go get someone, I-”

 

“Rea…” He struggles with the words, dry lips seeming to gasp for air as they fit around the sounds, “... pers?” Then, more surely, as Garrus pulls away with his heart aching, “Rea-pers?”

 

The doctors had listed everything off to him many times: periods of memory loss, irritability, insomnia, or even slipping back into the coma again all together. It was getting better, of course, not that it made it any easier. He still wants to climb into bed next to him, soothe him with old Turian songs and stroking the backs of his hands into life again. He has done it before, but today he restrains, the glassiness in Cirella’s eyes holding him back from the ledge. All he does is take his hand and hold on tight, to go with the gravity of his words,  “ _ Gone _ . You don’t need to worry about them, or that -  _ anything _ like that - anymore. Not until you rest and recover.  _ We _ rest and recover. Together.”

 

“Gone,” Cirella repeats back to him like it’s a foreign word; a strange concept that they’d won, beaten them, saved the day, and he was still breathing when the sun went down.

 

“Yes, love.” Garrus squeezes his hand tight, an anchor to the ground they are on. “You saved us.”

 

He smiles again, of course, like when the Catalyst signal went down all short of two months ago. The Fleets  _ won _ , the Reapers stopped, and everything else in between fell to Earth.

 

“I’m glad - I saved you. Too.” The stars are in Cirella’s eyes when he looks at Garrus now, that dumb smile on his face, one he’d never wear in fear of optimism sneaking up on him. It suits him, lights up the shadowed corner of his face, the hollow spaces Garrus had filled with so many soft touches, gentle kisses and quiet words. “I was worried...  we’d never have that drink.”

 

Garrus has to laugh, else he might cry. “Of  _ course _ we’ll have that drink. I even scoped out the bar, there’s a real nice spot up with the bartender, told him I’m with the Saviour of the Galaxy and all. There’s some good house specials for  _ that _ shiny title.”

 

The laugh he pulls from Shepard’s chest is a rough, earthy one, like he’s coughing up the rubble they pulled him from and hanging onto the breaths Garrus counted meticulously under his hand. That was a terrible day. This one is ranking much higher, seeing the crinkles of Cirella’s eyes as he laughs, the light dashing across his face from the window nearby. They have a new view, Garrus definitely thinks, but his is much nicer.

 

Then there is coughing, hacking and awful, and the people he is supposed to fetch suddenly appear to usher him out. The day sinks down the list to join Garrus’s heart at his feet. He returns when the sun is low, with the gentle light of the cleanup trucks in the distance, and the light above Cirella’s best which cast too-long shadows across his peaceful face.

 

“Every time,” he whispers, taking his seat again, his rightful guard post. “ _ Every time _ , Shepard, you do this. You save the planet, or the damsel, or save the whole damn galaxy. It breaks my heart. Every single time, without fail.” The monitor beeps in agreement; that and Cirella’s slow breaths count out the beat of silence. “And I wish I could stop loving you for it. But I can’t.”

 

Another night is chased away by the sun, Garrus does not move while it shines across his face. Instead, he lifts his head and Cirella’s eyes flutter open once more, ready to face the light.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading x


End file.
